on the lot

(S01E09) Last week a reader by the name of Videophile posted a link in the comments to this YouTube video noting the similarities between it and Zach's film Die Hardly Working.

After watching the film, I tend to agree and encourage you to have a look for yourself.

I'm not accusing Zach of stealing from the SecretFunTime crew, but the video was posted on their site on May 1st and apparently, Zach only shot this film last week. Also, On The Lot didn't start airing until May 23rd which presumably means Zach could have seen the video before leaving to participate on the show. Just something to think about.

I apologize for the rampant conspiracy theorizing. I have to keep myself interested in this show somehow.

• At 8, NBC has a new, two-hour America's Got Talent.
• FOX has a new On The Lot at 8.
• At 9, ABC has a new Shaq's Big Challenge, followed by a new Primetime: Family Secrets.
• PBS has a new Wide Angle at 9.
• Lifetime has the new movie The Staircase Murders at 9, with Treat Williams.
• HGTV has a new Decorating Cents at 9.
• The only good thing about having FOX Reality Channel: they're showing repeats of the Anderson Cooper-hosted The Mole. Two episodes start at 9.
• Also at 9: Sundance has a new Big Ideas For A Small Planet.
• At 10, TLC has a new Miami Ink.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E08) I hate to sound like a broken record, but once again, On The Lot underwent a few more tweaks this week.

To begin with, thanks to a somewhat revealing outfit, the studio audience was mere millimeters away from finding out what exactly resided on Adriana Costa's lot. I'm pretty sure Garry Marshall would have had a heart attack had this actually occurred.

• At 8, NBC has a new, two-hour America's Got Talent.
• FOX has a new On The Lot at 8.
• Also at 8: TCM has The Bigamist, with Edmond O'Brien, Joan Fontaine, and Ida Lupino, followed by Outrage with Tod Anderews and Mala Powers (who passed away two weeks ago).
• The Bourne Identity airs on USA at 8:30.
• At 9, PBS has a new Frontline/World.
• ABC has Shaq's Big Challenge at 9, then a new Primetime.
• Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs at 9.
• Lifetime has the new movie Abducted at 9.
• At 10, TLC has a new Miami Ink.
• Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List at 10.
• There's a new ECW on Sci-Fi at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E07) I'm pretty sure Fox has an intern whose sole job is to check the web every Wednesday morning to see what the bloggers and web magazines had to say about the previous night's episode.

I say this because it feels like the producers take the online criticism into account and have been making little adjustments here and there to try and make the show a little bit better.

• At 8, FOX has a new On The Lot.
• ABC has a new Fast Cars & Superstars at 8.
• NBC has a new, two-hour America's Got Talent at 8.
• There's a new Nova on PBS at 8, then a new Frontline.
• TCM has On Dangerous Ground at 8, then While The City Sleeps.
• At 9, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter.
• The History Channel has a new The Universe at 9.
• The Travel Channel has a new John Ratzenberger's Made in America.
• At 10, TLC has a new Miami Ink.
• A&E has two new episodes of Criss Angel Mindfreak starting at 10.
• Also at 10: Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E06) To the producer's credit, we finally have a format for this show, and it appears we're sticking with it. We also seem to have hit upon a trend with easy on the eyes but hard on the ears host Adriana Costa.

I could be wrong, but it appears her outfit gets a little skimpier every week.

If I'm right, somewhere around week 10 Fox's ratings are going to kill in this time slot since it's likely Adriana will have her outfit whittled down to a couple of squares of toilet paper held together by some fishing line.

• At 8, FOX has a new On The Lot.
• NBC has a new two-hour America's Got Talent at 8.
• ABC has a new Fast Cars & Superstars at 8, then the NBA finals.
• At 9, Lifetime has the new movie A Family Lost.
• There's a new Dog The Bounty Hunter at 9.
• The History Channel has a new episode of The Universe at 9.
• At 9:30, Food Network has a new Road Tasted, in Philadelphia.
• At 10, Comedy Central has Brian Regan: Standing Up.
• Bravo has a new Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List at 10.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.
• Also at 10: TLC has the season premiere of Miami Ink.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(S01E04) After the three audition episodes that seemed to plod along, spending so much time on interviews and back stories, this episode just felt odd. It was as if they stuffed two hours of show in a one hour bag. Dancers just appeared on screen with no names or introduction, whether we had seen them before or not.

It was also hard to get any idea about the judges decisions. For so many of the contestants we were only shown small fractions of their performance. Between this and the 'new format every week!' On The Lot debacle, I'm left wondering if everyone in the Fox reality department has just closed up shop for the summer. It's all very strange. But there were auditions, so after the jump a look at a few of the stories that stood out in Vegas.

I'm a little depressed at how effortless it was to come up with the shows for this list. How can I possibly watch this much television during the Summer?

Then I looked at the TiVo beneath my TV, the Media Center PC and Xbox 360 in the office, and the Slingbox Pro in my living room and laughed for having even asked the question.

All of this TV is feasible because I own devices that are dedicated to helping me ingest the maximum number of programs possible within a 24-hour period. I'm TV obese, and it's a wonder with all the sedentary behavior, I'm not physically obese as well.

That being said (and wholeheartedly ignored), here are 11 shows my toys will help me binge on this Summer.

(S01E05) Tonight's show was a definite improvement over last weeks, but that's kind of like saying being forced fed one turd sandwich is better than being force fed two. At the end of the day, you're still eating a turd sandwich.

Never in my history of TV watching have I encountered a show so maligned by schizophrenia. The producers of On The Lot know they want to find "the next great Hollywood film director," but they have absolutely no clue what the means are to reach this end.

And what's the deal with Adriana Costa. I think one of the readers mentioned that he and a friend created a drinking game that revolved around one of them taking a shot every time she botched a line.

Sadly, I received email confirmation that the both of them died of alcohol poisoning after this evening's episode.

• At 8, FOX has a new On The Lot.
• NBC has a new Deal Or No Deal at 8, then the season premiere of America's Got Talent.
• At 9, ABC has the 2007 ALMA Awards.
• The History Channel has a new The Universe at 9.
• Bravo has Everybody Can Suck It, the new Kathy Griffin special, at 9, then the season premiere of her Life on the D List show.
• Also at 9: the Travel Channel has a new John Ratzenberger's Made In America.
• At 9:30, A&E has a new Dog The Bounty Hunter, followed by a new Criss Angel Mindfreak.
• There's a new Road Tasted on Food Network at 9:30.
• At 10, FX has the season finale of The Shield.
• Sci-Fi has a new ECW at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Fox has apparently responded to the lackluster ratings of its new reality series, On the Lot, by trimming down the number of episodes. Instead of airing on two nights each week, the network is going to condense its unreasonably long results show with its competition for a single, one-hour installment each week.

The change is effective immediately: On the Lot will only be seen on Tuesdays at 8 pm starting June 5. There will still be a two-night finale on August 13-14.

The schedule change will also cause a shift in the schedule for the remaining episodes of The Loop. Now The Loop will not appear on Tuesdays, will air twice on Sundays at 7:30 and 8:30 pm on June 24 and July 1.

(S01E04) This may go down as the longest hour of TV in the history of TV. Tonight's episode was only an hour long, but it felt more like thirteen thanks to the lame effort to American Idolize the show with all the awkward pauses and the "we'll tell you right after the break" nonsense.

It probably sounds strange for a guy who practically typed a novel during yesterday's review to be criticizing the length of anything, but what else could I do? There were still 24, pardon me, 18 contestants left, and I couldn't very well not talk about someone's film. It'd be like the producers of this show completely leaving out an episode. Things like that just shouldn't happen.

Anyhow, I guess there's no real reason for me to stretch this out any more than it needs to be. I'll tell you who got cut, but we're going to have to wait...until...after...you...click..the...jump.

• At 8, FOX has a new On The Lot, then the season finale of House.
• At 10, ABC has the season finale of Boston Legal.
• At 9, PBS has a new Independent Lens.
• Discovery has a new Deadliest Catch at 9, followed by a new After The Catch.
• Food Network has a new Challenge at 9.
• Also at 9: Travel Channel has a new John Ratzenberger's Made In America.
• At 9:30, Bravo has a new Real Housewives of Orange County special.
• CBS has the Kimberly Dozier news special Flashpoint at 10.
• FX has a new episode of The Shield at 10.
• There's a new ECW on Sci-Fi at 10.
• HBO has a First Look at Ocean's 13 at 10.

Check your local TV listings for more.